StaTuesday: The record-breaking month for Brewers Thames

As any fan of the Milwaukee Brewers knows, Eric Thames had an incredible April.

Safe to say Thames was the biggest mystery on the Brewers coming into the season and also the biggest surprise. Thames finished the month with a slash line of .345/.466/.810, setting franchise records for home runs (11) and runs (28) in April.

Only two other player had hit 10 home runs in March/April in Brewers history -- Carlos Lee in 2006 and Ryan Braun in 2011, both with 10 (by the way, Lee would finish with 37 homers and Braun 33).

Thames is just one of 14 Brewers players to hit 10 or more home runs in any month during a season. Prince Fielder had 13 in May 2007 while four players had 12: Gorman Thomas (August 1979), Greg Vaughn (June 1996), Jeromy Burnitz (June 1999) and Richie Sexson (September/October 2001).

It wasn't just home runs for Thames in April. As mentioned, he had 28 runs, which is tied for the eighth most in any month in Brewers history. However, Thames had the fewest plate appearances (103) of any player who had 28 or more runs in a month. In fact, the next closest was 18 away. Thames averaged a run roughly every 3.6 plate appearances. So if he was able to get a few more times at bat .

Player

Month/Yr

Games

PA

Runs

Paul Molitor

Sept/Oct 1987

32

151

36

Paul Molitor

July 1983

28

136

33

Paul Molitor

Sept/Oct 1982

32

150

32

Jim Gantner

July 1983

28

125

31

Paul Molitor

August 1991

29

145

31

Robin Yount

July 1982

27

122

30

Rickie Weeks

Sept/Oct 2007

28

127

29

Robin Yount

June 1982

27

130

28

Robin Yount

Sept/Oct 1982

32

146

28

Eric Thames

April 2017

24

103

28

Corey Hart

June 2007

26

126

28

Robin Yount

May 1980

27

121

28

Thames also got on base nearly half the time in April, with his .466 on-base percentage. That ranks 11th in franchise history (including the Seattle Pilots).

Player

Month/Yr

Games

PA

OBP

Ryan Braun

August 2010

26

113

.496

Gerardo Parra

July 2015

24

97

.495

Prince Fielder

June 2011

27

110

.491

Mark Loretta

June 1997

27

110

.482

Paul Molitor

August 1987

29

142

.479

Prince Fielder

Sept/Oct 2007

27

115

.478

Paul Molitor

Sept/Oct 1989

26

114

.474

Dave Nilsson

July 1996

25

108

.472

Paul Molitor

May 1980

27

129

.469

Tommy Harper

May 1969

26

124

.468

Eric Thames

April 2017

24

103

.466

But all this being said, it is Thames' power which drew him the most attention.

Thames had an .810 slugging percentage in April -- that's the best for a Brewers player in any month, ever. Only six players have slugged .750 or greater in a month for the Brewers (min. 100 plate appearances).

Player

Month/Yr

Games

PA

SLG%

Eric Thames

April 2017

24

103

.810

Greg Vaughn

June 1996

26

113

.787

Prince Fielder

May 2007

29

121

.755

Mike Cameron

August 2008

25

105

.753

Ryan Braun

July 2008

25

112

.752

Gorman Thomas

June 1982

26

113

.750

From a major-league perspective, Thames is one of 25 players in history to hit 11 or more home runs in April, including Washington's Ryan Zimmerman this season. Of the remaining 23, 19 of those hit 30 or more home runs on the season.

Player

Year

PA

HR

Final HR

Alex Rodriguez

2007

106

14

54

Albert Pujols

2006

110

14

49

Luis Gonzalez

2001

109

13

57

Ken Griffey Jr.

1997

119

13

56

Matt Kemp

2012

98

12

23

Justin Upton

2013

112

12

27

Mike Schmidt

1976

66

11

38

Willie Stargell

1971

83

11

48

Barry Bonds

2001

91

11

73

Paul Konerko

2010

92

11

39

Graig Nettles

1973

94

11

22

Ryan Zimmerman

2017

96

11

n/a

Larry Walker

2001

101

11

38

Larry Walker

1997

101

11

49

Eric Thames

2017

103

11

n/a

Jonny Gomes

2006

106

11

20

Jermaine Dye

2000

111

11

33

Mark McGwire

1997

112

11

58

Gary Sheffield

1996

112

11

42

Barry Bonds

1996

116

11

42

Mark McGwire

1998

117

11

70

Vinny Castilla

1998

122

11

46

Ken Griffey Jr.

1998

123

11

56

Brady Anderson

1996

124

11

50

Chase Utley

2008

128

11

33

Thanes hit eight of his April home runs against the Cincinnati Reds. That's the most a Brewers player hs ever hit against the Reds in any season (Fielder and Ryan Braun each had seven). Only George Scott with nine against Detroit in 1975 has more homers against one team over one season (Fielder had eight vs. the Cubs in 2010 and Vaughn with eight against Kansas City in 1996).

But Thames' eight home runs against one team in a month put him in even more exclusive company. He joined eight other players to accomplish that feat in major-league history.

Twice it happened in 1971: Willie Stargell against the Atlanta Braves in April and Deron Johnson against the Montreal Expos in July.

The only other time? Babe Ruth against the Philadelphia A's in May 1930.

When you can get yourself mentioned in a sentence with Ruth yeah, it was a good month.